Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Orlando Gloom

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Index of Global Delirium

9.4

The Index reflects the state of delirium
in a particular country using a 1 to 10 count, with 10 denoting the highest
level of delirium. Levels of delirium change on the basis of current
development in said country, such as instability, terrorism, elections,
sports events and the like, as well as
relevant global developments such financial meltdowns, certain leaks, and
stock market indices. Countries shown above are among those where fluctuation
in the national and local indices have a greater global impact than is the
case with other countries. Note: levels of violence and delirium do
not always coincide. Indeed, a country can have a high delirium level even
though it is relatively stable.

The upwards trend continues not simply on
account of the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, but, no less importantly,
on account of the reactions to them in certain political quarters.

Featured Quote

“[The Muslims] know what’s going on. They
know that he was bad. They knew the people in San Bernardino were bad. But you
know what? They didn’t turn them in. And you know what? We had death, and
destruction.” --Donald
Trump

The Delirica

Of Hate, Guns & Hubris:Orlando Shooter
Was Reportedly a Regular at Pulse and Had a Profile on Gay Dating App. This should
not be surprising. Many of the hate crimes perpetrated against members of the
LGBTQ community involve disturbed individuals who are having difficulty, due to
societal pressures, accepting the fact that they might belong to this community
as well. But, does that take away from the involvement of other factors as
well, in this case, Islamist extremism and the easy access to assault weapons
(not to mention steroids and bipolar disease)? I don’t think so.

But while outreach to people with mental
problems is hampered by the sheer demographics involved, and countering violent
extremism is complicated by a variety of geopolitical considerations, gun
control is impeded only by our unwillingness to learn, and by pressures from
the NRA. A country that can remain divided on the issue of gun control after so
many tragedies have taken place in such short period of time is one that is
heading towards a period of serious social instability, despite its status as
the world sole superpower, and its role as a defender of democracy. Like all
such developments, this one is made inevitable only by our hubris. Hate, guns
and hubris are quite the dangerous mix.

But leave it to Samantha Bee to put things
in proper perspective

And while we are waiting for more clarity
on Orlando attacker and his motivations, I hope this story doesn’t fall off the
radar: Man Armed With
Assault Rifles, Explosives Intended to Target California Gay Pride Parade,
Police Say. The young man’s name is James Wesley Howell, a 20-year old from
Indiana, and he was arrested just as the Orlando attack was unfolding.
Coincidence or Coordination? If coincidence, then, it’s a reminder so timely
it’s divine of how widespread anti-gay sentiments are still at this stage in
history, and of how difficult the challenge towards obtaining equal rights for
all remains.

As for those who want to ignore the
pervasive Islamist dimension in this situation, these videos might help provide
some context. The imam in the first is a Shia figure from Iran.

Bilal Qureshi is right to speak of a Muslim silence
on gay rights. It’s been deafening so many of us in the human rights community for
decades now.

Muslims don't need to apologize for
the lives lost in Florida. Not every Muslim is responsible for today's tragic
incident. They however need to stop lying that violent Muslims are not Muslims.
Instead of coming up with lame excuses whether Hitler was a Muslim or whether
Muslims were responsible behind initiating the two world wars and nuking Japan,
try identifying the problem. The problem of violent extremism, the problem of
growing homophobia in the Muslim world... but since it is difficult to stand
up, take responsibility and work for reformation of specific doctrines through counter
narratives, therefore people go for something easier which is to simply get
away with it by saying "no Muslim can do this" and "terrorism
has no religion." The more we stay in denial, the more we will be
isolated.

The reason why Dylann Roof, the young
white man who murdered nine people in a black church in Charleston, South
Carolina, was not identified as terrorist is a matter that
deserves further analysis. Personally, I believe that the existence of an ideological
motivation, to go along with whatever personal motif is involved, makes
whatever crime committed worthy of being identified as an act of terrorism. And
yes, to me, that does mean that the line between hate crimes and terrorism is
imaginary.

The Roots of
Lone Wolf Terrorism “Why the West's Homegrown Jihadists Are All Sunni.” Andrew
L. Peek notes that “Essentially, there is an inverse correlation at work here:
the more state support a terrorist group receives, the more limited and
geopolitical are its objectives.” This corollary, according to Peek,
seems to hold true for Shia terrorist groups supported by Iran, but he hopes
that, if Saudi succeeded in getting the various radical Sunni Jihadi groups
currently operating in Syria and Iraq to accept its authority, that the
corollary will apply to these groups as well.

The problem in this argument lies in the
fact that such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda are really amorphous networks that have
accepted multiple sponsorships, including from Iran, despite existing sectarian
differences, and are, therefore, ultimately beholden to none. In fact, it is
not always clear whether the different groups claiming to be affiliated with
ISIS and Al-Qaeda are in fact truly committed to that. As precedents set in
Iraq and Syria show, there are units within the networks that seem to be run,
if not completely manned, by security agents working for the Assad regime, or
even directly for Iranian and even Russian intelligence. As such, acts
that might initially appear as Lone Wolf attacks could in fact constitute
sophisticated false-flag security operations coming in the service of certain
geopolitical interests. Differentiating between the two kinds of operations is
important, but is something that various governments including the American and
other Western governments, may not want to do publicly for their own
geopolitical considerations.

Finally, and as the Pulse Attack itself
indicates the involvement of personal individual factors seem to play a major
role in this matter. State sponsorship, therefore, may not be effective here,
not unless these states were willing to monitor the mental health of their
recruits and to provide mental health benefits, including counselling to those
who needed.

The Daily Delirynth

The
War-Mongers:Keeping Iran and
Saudi Arabia From War “Getting Riyadh and Tehran to Talk.” Or, perhaps
if they ended up fighting on their own lands, they might stop fighting by proxy
on ours. At least, the world might have to intervene then and force the
agreement of some kind of security charter for the region. Doing it preemptively
would be better of course, but that’s asking too much of our current set of
mediocre leaders everywhere.

Meanwhile, the fate of a certain blunt
instrument is in the air: Iran’s Return
Isn’t Helping Hezbollah Pay the Bills “Tehran may be back in fashion, but an American law
has cut off its Lebanese ally.” With Hezbollah’s other sources of funds,
especially its sex trade and drug trafficking operations,
drying up as well, things don’t look so good for Nasrallah and Co. their fate
may not be sealed as Assad’s might be, with a convenient car bombing or heart
attack, as they seem more adept at adjusting. Then again why not? It’s a brave
new world out there.

The Salvation-Bearers: These Super-Rich
Syrians Are Waiting to Return If War Ever Ends. The legendary
corruption of the Assad regime has become much worse over the course of its
bloody war against the Syrian people. Those who think that rebuilding is
possible under the auspices of the current set of leaders are quite delusional.
Without conducting a major anti-corruption campaign, rebuilding will prove impossible.
But conducting such a campaign calls for major change of existing cadres on all
levels, and that will spell trouble for the Assad clique who now has to contend
with serious rivals to their authority on the local level within each and every
community and region still under their nominal control (except even more
illustrious generals, such as the recently collapsed Muhamamd Mansourah, to
drop accidentally from high buildings). The challenges of the reconstruction
are likely to produce what the rebellion could not: seal the fate of the Assad
regime. Rather, they might force the hand of its Iranian and Russian backers by
highlighting the need for regime change if they are to succeed in their future
efforts at pacifying and dividing control over the country.

Syrians unload boxes from a truck after an aid convoy of the Syrian Red Crescent entered Harasta, a besieged rebel-held suburb of Syria's capital on May 18, 2016 CREDIT: ABDULMONAM EASSA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Known to those
of his followers seeking his canonization and entry into the Valtheon of
Deliriology, as Agnus Mundi, and to his detractors as Ranae Dei and even
Capra Satanae, Delirian Mundi’s writings, mixing satire and philosophical
reflections, continue to be polarizing, inspiring both adulation and
ridicule. Bearing this in mind, we, the editors at DDGD, continue to publish
these previously unknown series of “exotic observations and propositions,” as
Delirian himself referred to them, as part of our continuing commitment to
instigate debate over sensitive issues.

* Neither bravery nor wisdom is sufficient
to make the world a better place. The role of organization and planning is much
more critical.

* In the moral sense, might is not right,
but in the practical sense, that’s exactly what it is. That’s why power will
always remain alluring, and that’s why when we speak of improving our lives, we
often refer to empowering ourselves.

Giving the Hose: Russian made
mine-clearance charges designed to blow up everything explosive in a given
area are now dropped the Assad regime on regime controlled by his opponents
along with barrel bombs.

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IGD: We finally hit a perfect 10. We now offically live in the Age of Total Delirirum

The IGD or the Index of Global Delirium reflects the state of delirium in the world at a particular moment in time using a 1 to 10 measure, with 10 denoting the highest level of delirium. Levels of delirium change on the basis of various current developments such as instability, wars, terrorist activities, elections, sports events, financial meltdowns, leaks of sensitive information, etc. Note:levels of violence and delirium do not always coincide. IGD levels may rise even when violence levels seem to take a downturn.

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